2 Cities Ok Character Program Rathdrum, Worley Endorse Principles Rejected By Other Cities Due To Religious Ties

A controversial character building program has been endorsed by two cities in Kootenai County.

The Rathdrum City Council late Tuesday approved a resolution supporting character development throughout the city. The council’s vote was unanimous, with Mayor Tawnda Bromley and Councilman Mark Worthen absent for the vote.

Last month, Worley’s City Council passed an identical resolution, stating that the city will strive to “promote character building in its school, businesses, homes, churches, city government, media and community groups.”

With Worley’s resolution, every house in town will receive a 75-page, hard-back book published by the International Association of Character Cities. The book instructs families how to develop 49 character traits such as humility, faithfulness and orderliness.

The book, “Achieving True Success,” is also available for Rathdrum residents, said Dan Pinkerton, a local businessman and founder of the Idaho Character Foundation.

Additional materials to support character traits will be available for the city from the IACC, a group closely aligned with Bill Gothard, an evangelical Christian whose Institute of Basic Life Principles conducted Bible-based seminars for adults and teenagers.

In the past, Gothard’s “chain of command” teachings have been based on his religious thoughts, specific people must have authority over others, such as husbands over wives.

But the literature endorsed by each city contains no religious talk, Pinkerton said. The Idaho Character Foundation has purchased 2,500 books for cities and groups willing to pass the character resolution - a cost of about $8,000.

Leaders in the cities of Coeur d’Alene, Hayden, Athol, Spirit Lake and Sandpoint have no plans to align themselves with the IACC.

The cities’ decisions were made shortly after Pinkerton sponsored an April trip to Indianapolis for 12 North Idaho leaders. At the IACC conference, city leaders learned about character and a city’s role in developing character in families, businesses, schools, government and the media.

Once there, several North Idaho delegates wanted to leave because of the conference’s strong Christian influence. Chris Copstead, a city councilman from Coeur d’Alene, said he felt held against his will. Nancy Taylor, a Hayden council member said the group had ulterior religious motives. Sandpoint Mayor Paul Graves, an ordained Methodist pastor, said he was wary of bringing overt religious language into secular city meetings.

Soon after the conference trip, Athol and Spirit Lake leaders decided not to bring the idea of beginning the program to their city councils.

Last June, the Spokane Human Rights Commission voted not to endorse a character program, sponsored by IACC. Yet local schools, businesses and Spokane County’s juvenile detention center are using the group’s materials.

In addition, the City Council in Federal Way, Wash., did not pursue the idea of bringing character subjects to its city after it created a committee to investigate the program, said Phil Watkins, a Federal Way council member.

In May, Watkins said he disagreed with Gothard’s notion of hierarchy - where “somehow us politicians are anointed to point the way.” He also said he worried that taxpayers’ money could be spent to pay for Gothard’s projects outside the IACC character program.

Rathdrum’s council vote Tuesday doesn’t obligate the city to set aside funds for the program, assured Pinkerton.

“The cost to the city should be zero on this,” he said to the council.

Last month Pinkerton introduced the character program to Worley council members. At its meeting, the council voted to pass the resolution provided by Pinkerton.

Council members in Worley knew about the resolution prior to Pinkerton’s presentation, said Mayor Charlene Waddell. The council’s vote can result in three scenarios, according to Waddell: the resolution merely stands as a statement citing character as a virtue; the character family books are delivered to local residents; or a group within the Plummer/Worley school district takes control of the idea and allows it to develop.

If the school won’t support the character program, the idea will probably stop dead in its tracks, Waddell said. But about 500 books will be distributed to families, paid for by the Idaho Character Foundation.

“It all hinges on the fact that we’re so tiny down here,” Waddell said. “I don’t know how much success we’d have without any help along the way.”

Although absent Tuesday night, Rathdrum’s Bromley said no residents have approached her about the program’s religious affiliation. If they had, she said, she would seriously reconsider supporting the project.

Instead, the purpose of passing the resolution is to emphasize the town’s “existing positivity,” according to Bromley. Plus, the resolution will make tools, such as books, videos and strategic planning, available from the IACC.

“It depends on how someone wants to look at (the program),” Bromley said. “Either way, I just think good character is something we need to enforce among each other.”

The decision to endorse character, and possibly purchase IACC’s materials in the future, was not a decision made quickly by the council, Bromley said.

“We have to honor everyone’s ideas,” she said. “It’s not something you look at lightly anyway.”

But council members should have held a public hearing or workshop for residents to learn more about any kind of program, like instituting character in the government, said Bev Young, a former Rathdrum council member. The last thing a council wants to do is revoke a resolution because of a public outcry.

“I know I always tried to get a feeling from the people,” she said.

Pinkerton visited the Rathdrum City Council last month to introduce the idea to council members. He provided them a “sample resolution” that leaders could pass, rewrite or deny, he said.

The resolution is general, basically citing the need to focus on character within the city - where moral standards, once set by the nation’s founders, need to be recognized.

It’s a pro-active, not a reactive, approach to changing a community, Pinkerton said. If character programs were built, citizens could prevent problems, such as crime, in their communities.

The Idaho Character Foundation has also donated 500 books to Idaho Drug Free Youth.

Pinkerton said he plans to spend the next several years promoting character in cities throughout Idaho.

“We’ve got many, many years here to promote excellence in character,” he said.